Southport board OKs Lord Street gym project

Friday

Jun 14, 2013 at 11:07 AM

Southport is putting together a task force to study whether to renovate an abandoned gymnasium with historical value.

By D.J. BernardBreakingnews@StarNewsOnline.com

Southport is putting together a task force to study whether to renovate an abandoned gymnasium with historical value. The Southport Board of Aldermen voted unanimously Thursday night to look further into leasing and sprucing up the Lord Street gym, which is owned by Brunswick Community College. The task force would look at the feasibility of the project as a partnership between the community and the city. It will also examine the viability of the city's current gym on Atlantic Avenue.Residents have complained that the abandoned building on Lord Street is an eyesore.But the building has significance to local residents. The gym was built in 1961, at the height of segregation, according to Donnie Joyner, longtime Southport resident. "We built that gym as a community, black and white together," said Joyner, who was in the eighth grade when the community raised funds to build the gym. Joyner said parents, schoolchildren and the local PTA joined forces with doughnut and bake sales and candy sales to raise money for the gym. "Then we all came together and laid in blocks to build it," Joyner said. Brunswick Community College recently asked if Southport wants to lease the property. But Alderman Kenneth Karn said leasing the gym would be a poor business move and purchasing it would be a better alternative. "If we do renovations, it adds value for the college, if they're still the owner," Karn said. "The building is in good structural condition and it has a historical value, so it might be eligible for grants."But Alderman Todd Coring pointed out that the city already has a gym, on Atlantic Avenue. "I think we need to look at the gym we already have," Coring said. "There will be maintenance costs on the Lord Street gym, and I hate to see us bite off more than we can chew." The alderman added that residents have been pushing the city to bring the Atlantic Avenue gym up to par. The task force will be formed in the next few months.